Cta Studying Dual Fare System For Use Next Year

September 03, 1985|By Gary Washburn, Transportation writer.

The Chicago Transit Authority is studying a dual fare system for possible use next year in which riders would be charged more during rush hours and less during off-peak periods, local transit sources say.

The system is being considered by CTA staff officials as they formulate a proposed 1986 budget and consider ways to generate additional revenues.

CTA Chairman Michael Cardilli was unavailable for comment, but Robert Gaines, a CTA spokesman, said talk about 1986 fares or possible restructuring of the fare system is premature.

``We are considering many options,`` he said. ``The very first option we always explore is not to increase fares.``

But Cardilli publicly has laid the groundwork for a possible fare increase in the coming year, saying that the basic cost of a ride might have to be raised from the current 90 cents to $1 to meet expenses.

A peak/off-peak approach is seen as an alternative to the need for a flat, across-the-board increase for 1986.

Under such a system, transit sources said that the 90-cent fare could be retained for non-rush periods, with additional revenue raised by increasing the fare by some amount during the hours of heaviest use.

Fifty percent of CTA bus ridership and 59 percent of rapid transit ridership takes place during the six peak hours of the day, between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The CTA provides about 2 million rides a day.

The CTA staff in late 1983 recommended creation of a dual system as part of a radical fare restructuring. The proposal also provided for the elimination of transfers, which meant that riders would have to pay a new fare every time they boarded a bus or rapid transit train.

Strong public opposition to the proposed transfer abolition caused the entire fare-restructuring to be scuttled.

CTA officials considering a new peak/off-peak system see several advantages in addition to the possibility of increased revenues. They believe that:

-- Higher fares in the busiest hours would be borne by those best able to pay them--people with jobs traveling to and from work.

-- Some current peak-hour riders would be encouraged by lower fares to travel at non-rush periods, taking the strain off the crowded rush-hour bus and rapid transit fleet and helping fill seats on under-utilized vehicles during the middle of the day.

-- ``Discretionary`` patrons may be encouraged to ride more often because of lower off-peak fares.

Any fare revamping must be approved by the CTA board after public hearings.

The American Public Transit Association, a Washington-based trade group, found that 23 of 275 cities surveyed last February had dual fare systems, including such urban centers as Seattle, Denver, Houston, Minneapolis, Cincinatti, Louisville and Washington, D.C.

In the past, the CTA has avoided politically distasteful fare increases despite rising costs, relying on the state for bailouts. But the practice backfired in 1981 when outside help could not be obtained and fares had to be increased by 50 percent. The sharp rise caused ridership to fall.

A state law passed in 1983 dramatically changed the rules of the game. It required that the Regional Transportation Authority and its three operating units--the CTA, the commuter rail system and the suburban bus system--cover at least 50 percent of the cost of regionwide transit operations from farebox revenues. No more than 50 percent of costs can be covered by public subsidies. The law was designed to prevent disastrously high fare increases by forcing small, periodic raises as expenses go up.

Meanwhile, CTA staff executives plan to recommend changes that would sharply restrict the use of transfers. Transfers could be used to board only two vehicles after purchase and would be good for only two hours after issuance. Current regulations permit an unlimited number of rides and validity for as long as four hours.